Tuesday, February 5, 2008

Lunch Box Dilemna

My 8-year-old son has alway been something of a picky eater, but lately he seems to be getting worse. Most difficult is the school lunch box! He does not eat peanut butter so PBJ is out. Yogurt doesn't stay cold enough, even with a cold pack. Forget cheese for the same reason! Soup in the thermos? No. Granola bars? No. It's enough to send me screaming into the pre-dawn morning every day! What is a mom to do?

7 comments:

I froze the yoghurts,(just remind him to stir well before eating) froze oranges to keep the lunch box cool (always in a plastic bag to stop it leaving water through the lunch) and made things like wholewheat cracker biscuits with a spread, celery and carrot sticks packed with a small container of cream cheese or relish they like etc.

I found the frozen orange trick worked well and I am in west Aussie where we can get 45C+ temps, more often than not the orange came home 3/4 eaten too

My son is just the opposite - all he will eat is peanut butter. No cheese or lunch meat for him, plus there is no refrigeration either. I put peanut butter on tortillas, bread, crackers. Occasionally he gets tired of it and likes to eat cereal. Would that work for your son? I also use a hot thing sometimes and send pasta, or oatmeal - the other two things he will actually eat. Good luck - I feel your pain!

My girls like cream cheese and olives on bagels. They also like Cheese, lettuce/spinach, and olive sandwiches (we are olive lovers here!). Cheese is actually better flavored at room temperature, so if it doesn't bother your son, the cheese will survive just fine.

Hard-boiled eggs are always welcome in our lunches (we have to take them to our homeschool co-op and P.E. days). Cold pizza, pasta salads, apples and peanut butter or an apple with the core cut out and stuffed with peanut butter and chopped dates (mmm... but I'm the only one who loves this! My girls will have it withOUT the dates).

Tempeh makes good room temp sandwiches too. Egg salad sandwiches are a new favorite of my girls too, but of course, they have to be kept cold.

This too shall pass...I ate mayonaise sandwiches every single day for 6 years in school. Not even a carrot stick. I did have one of those small blueberry pies for dessert once in a while. By the time I was a teenager I ate lots of good things. Keep trying different things and know that he will change by the time he is a teenager : ) Then you wonder what he won't eat !